The Aerospace Corporation Presents Top Award to Team of SBIRS HEO-1 Engineers

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (Sept. 20, 2007) -- The engineering team of Bruce L. Arnheim, Leonardo F. Mendoza, and Jerome P. Snowiss has received The Aerospace Corporation's highest award, the Trustees' Distinguished Achievement Award, "for enhanced mission assurance leading to recovery and delivery of the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Highly Elliptical Orbit 1 (HEO) payload."

The engineers, all within The Aerospace Corporation's Space Program Operations organization, were recognized for playing a central role in overcoming severe technical problems with the HEO sensor by revitalizing mission assurance practices critical to delivery of a technically sound payload to the government.

"The team's contributions were crucial to the successful deployment and fielding of the SBIRS HEO-1 payload... that will provide an entirely new level of capability to missile warning, missile defense, battlespace awareness, and technical intelligence missions," the award citation stated.

The team also was recognized for providing essential support to integration of the payload with the launch vehicle, including space-to-ground compatibility testing and successful deployment and early on-orbit test.

The award was presented today by Dr. Daniel E. Hastings, chair of the awards subcommittee of the board of trustees, during a convocation held at the company's headquarters in El Segundo, Calif.

Also at the convocation, President and CEO Dr. William F. Ballhaus Jr. presented President's Achievement Awards to three other technical teams.

John D. Campbell, Dr. James T. Gillis, and Timothy W. Martin were recognized for "outstanding technical achievement in resolving a high-priority ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) design issue for the GPS (Global Positioning System) Block IIF Program."

Brian E. Hardt and Randy M. Villahermosa were honored for "determining the root case of and providing a solution for a life-limiting star sensor (critical for spacecraft attitude control) anomaly impacting numerous (space) programs."

Michael W. Vanik and Dr. Rafael J. Zaldivar were recognized for "identification and resolution of 'critical-path' materials failures on a major national-security space program."

The awards convocation is held annually to recognize exceptional achievements that advance the nation's space and defense capabilities.

The Aerospace Corporation, based in El Segundo, Calif., is an independent, nonprofit company that provides objective technical analyses and assessments for national-security space programs and selected civil and commercial space programs in the national interest.

Contact Dave Jonta, 310-336-5041, david.l.jonta@aero.org